1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an X-ray imaging apparatus and an X-ray imaging method for performing X-ray imaging.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, a high-resolution solid-state X-ray detector using a flat panel detector (FPD) has been proposed. Japanese Patent No. 3,066,944 discusses a method for placing an object between an X-ray source and an X-ray sensor and converting a dose of X-rays that have passed through the object into an electrical signal to obtain an X-ray image of the object as digital data.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-064081 discusses an X-ray television (TV) apparatus that performs radioscopic imaging for displaying an X-ray radiographic image on a cathode ray tube (CRT) using an image intensifier (I. I).
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-222312 discusses, for a technique for processing a request for image transfer between a primary storage unit for temporarily storing an image in an X-ray imaging unit and a secondary storage unit for permanently storing an image, an improvement in the response to an operator's instruction by switching the priority order of processes depending on the situation.
The basic processing flow of medical image pickup includes processing steps for performing imaging with imaging conditions specified by an imaging order, and outputting a picked-up image. More specifically, the processing flow can be classified into pre-imaging processing, imaging processing, and post-imaging processing. The imaging processing is required to display an image immediately after imaging, and therefore requires real-time properties, while the post-imaging processing does not require real-time properties.
The post-imaging processing includes processing for outputting a film output of an image, processing for transferring an image to an image server or an image viewer, and processing for storing an image in a local hard disk.
The post-imaging processing does not require interactive processing with an operator. Therefore, it is considered that post-imaging processing is performed in the background so that an operator performs imaging successively. Such a method for performing processing in the background can be achieved by a general known technique.
When the imaging processing and the post-imaging processing are performed in parallel, however, the post-imaging processing consumes large amounts of processing resources of a processing apparatus. This reduces the processing efficiency of the imaging processing requiring the real-time properties, resulting in a delay in the imaging processing and image data missing from reception.
On the other hand, when the imaging processing cannot be performed during the post-imaging processing, the operator cannot perform the imaging until the post-imaging processing is terminated, making working efficiency less efficient.